A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c18.9

c18.9

Princesses of the royal family generally received a good education in literature and the fine arts; some were quite equal, on occasions, to the tasks of administration and war. The Chālukyan princess Akkādevi, elder sister of Jayasimha II, carried on the administration of a province and personally and actively engaged in fights and sieges. Hoysala Ballāla I's queens were highly accomplished in music and dancing, and Sovaladevi, the queen of Kalacuri Sovideva (1174) used to display her accomplishments in these arts in large assemblies attended by nobles, scholars and artists from different countries. The Portuguese chronicler Paes (1520-2) and other foreign writers often described the number and costly establishments of the Vijayanagar queens as well as the large numbers of women attendants, the lavishness of their clothing and jewellery, and the sundry light duties allotted to them in the daily routine of the palace. We learn, for instance, that in the provincial court of Raghunātha Nāyaka of Tanjore there were many learned women poets who were capable of expounding works written in various languages. The role of women in high society was varied, important, and, generally speaking, pleasant. *Satī* was not unknown, especially among the upper classes, but by no means common.